A federal judge’s ruling supports the request of Vanessa Bryant to get the name of every Los Angeles Sheriff deputy who captured and shared the photographs of her husband Kobe’s helicopter accident. For the uninitiated, the legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and some other passengers died in a 2020 chopper crash.
John F. Walter stated that the defendants were unable to not only show compelling reasons for keeping the officers’ names private but also recognize an earlier civil rights-related case in which officer ranks and names were held back.
Bryant’s attorneys can now add the officers’ names to the accounts of their suit against Los Angeles County, the sheriff of the county Alex Villanueva, and the Sheriff’s Department.
The defendant parties said that there exists concern about attacks and vitriol on social media because it is a public case. Anyhow, judge Walter found that it is not more important than the interest in public access.
The parties argued that publicly disclosing the officials’ names could bring about a hack to reveal those photographs, as well. However, the judge stated that the argument did not match the claims of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that those photographs do not exist any longer.
Under her September 2020 lawsuit, Vanessa Bryant argues that the deputies at the accident site unauthorizedly shared the photographs of the passengers.
Villanueva earlier stated that 8 deputies photographed the site, and that he told them to remove the pictures even though the no-photograph policy of the department does not cover accidents.
Vanessa Bryant pursues damages for privacy invasion, deliberate action of inflicting emotional distress, and negligence.
As for her lawyer Luis Li, the lawsuit is all about accountability, plus prevention of the disgraceful behavior towards other families with loss down the road. The department officially declined the request for information from Vanessa Bryant, citing that it was not legally obliged to help with an inquiry. So, it is now up to an American court to let the department know its obligations, said Luis Li.